


When the Night Is Over

by CommanderTeatime



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Everyone Needs A Hug, Light Angst, M/M, Not Beta Read, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-16 02:08:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18085385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CommanderTeatime/pseuds/CommanderTeatime
Summary: Magnus and Clary talk over a cup of tea after her return.





	When the Night Is Over

**Author's Note:**

> Do you ever just write something to make yourself sad?

Magnus tugged on the tea bags in the mugs before he left the kitchen for the balcony. He ignored the burning heat of the ceramic against his skin, still giddy and smiling. It was the effect Clary Fray had on people, the overwhelming relief that came with seeing her again, alive, was just so staggering that Magnus couldn’t do much else. 

He thought about the little girl with her two red braids who had sat on the floor of his hallway and scribbled runes onto the walls with crayon. He thought about how she had fought her way into this world, through so much trauma and pain, to find herself here on his balcony, her back to him, looking out to the city lights as though they were stars. 

He knew she was aware of him, but it didn’t pull her out of her thoughts or away from the glow of New York City traffic on the Bridge. She didn’t react until he was there beside her, offering her a mug of chamomile tea. She had requested anything but Earl Grey. 

Magnus wasn’t sure of what to do. He wanted to pull it apart for her, to unweave all of what she had gone through, what she had endured. He knew from experience that the hardest part was looking for genuity in the web of lies and manipulation. 

Instead, he deflected for her.

“He missed you, you know.” Magnus said simply, sipping his tea as he watched her from the corner of his eye. 

Clary relaxed an inch, pulling at the string on the tea bag. “Who missed me?” she asked, catching his eyes for a second. Her green eyes looked metallic in the glow of the city, almost reminding him of his own. 

“Alec.” 

She almost snorted at that, “No.” She still smiled, her eyes down at the darkening tea in her hands. “He probably enjoyed the silence.”

Magnus chuckled and refrained from oversharing despite the temptation. He thought of how Alec had redirected all of his nervous energy into guarding him and Jace, into protecting them as though they were incapable of doing it themselves. Magnus took another sip of his tea, scalding his tongue. “He didn’t have anyone to herd, trying to control you and Jace was his job. He was almost lost without you.” 

Clary smiled a little softer, still looking at her tea. “I’m glad Alec has some job security now.” she said, trying to pull of a cool facade, just like Alec had done when she returned. 

He shook his head a little, they were too much alike in their own weird ways. “That’s the last thing Alec needs.” Magnus admitted. 

It had been on his mind a lot-- just how much Alec put his position on the line for others. He had redirected Institute missions and goals to help look for Clary until the Clave had declared her dead. All that he had done beforehand, all of the doublespeak and negotiation that had gone into keeping the Institute running while the Consul investigated him. They would have surely de-runed him if they had discovered how he letting Jace use Institute resources to look for Clary while they tried to keep Downworld politics in balance. 

“We never gave up.” Magnus said after a moment of silence.

Clary’s smile fluttered, her lips quaked, her eyes sparkled with tears that hadn’t fallen yet. “It’s okay if you did, I was close… I was close to giving up on myself.” She nearly sobbed, her voice caught in her throat.

Magnus placed his tea down on the barrier in front of them. “Biscuit, it’s okay.” He reached for her, unsure if Clary needed him to hold her, or if she just needed him to hear her. “You rescued yourself from hell, you made it out alive, you’re  _ here _ , Clary, and your mother would be so proud of you.” He could hear it in his own voice, the broken sound that came with tears. 

She shook with a sob before she caved into him, letting Magnus’s arms hold her close as she curled her fingers into the fabric of his jacket. “I’m sorry.” She sobbed, her words heavy with so many different apologies that Magnus’s heart ached in his chest as he sniffled his own tears back.

He held her close, feeling her breathe, alive in his arms. “It’s okay, Biscuit.” Magnus said through his own tears, “it’ll be okay.”

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me to write something happier on tumblr ( umbralogia.tumblr.com )


End file.
